Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 31

Today in World War II History—December 22, 1939 & 1944

Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe’s Christmas letter to the US 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne, Belgium in which he recreated the German surrender demand and his response, 24 Dec 1944 (Source: US Army)

85 Years Ago—Dec. 22, 1939: Finnish Army Group Talvela overruns Soviet 75th Division at Ägläjärvi, Finland.

80 Years Ago—Dec. 22, 1944: Germans demand surrender of surrounded Bastogne, Belgium—US Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe replies, “Nuts!”

US Third Army under Gen. George Patton launches offensive on the southern flank of the Bulge.

Movie premiere of Winged Victory, with Army Air Force men in the cast and with Red Buttons in his debut.

The post Today in World War II History—December 22, 1939 & 1944 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—December 21, 1944

Two soldiers of US 101st Airborne Division with bazookas guard road leading to Bastogne, Belgium, 23 Dec 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Dec. 21, 1944: In the Battle of the Bulge, Germans surround US troops in Bastogne, Belgium, and take the crossroads at St. Vith after heavy fighting.

US Sixth Army secures Ormoc Valley on Leyte.

Last class of WAVES officers graduates, and the first two African-American WAVES officers complete training and are commissioned.

Lt. (j.g.) Harriet Ida Pickens (left) and Ens. Frances Wills close a suitcase after graduating from the Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School (WR) at Northampton, MA, 21 Dec 1944. They were the Navy’s first African-American WAVES officers and graduated with the Northampton school’s final class. (US Navy Photo 80-G-297441)

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Today in World War II History—December 20, 1939 & 1944

Former US President Herbert Hoover, Dr. van Loon, and Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia raising funds for Finland for the Winter War, New York, New York, 20 Dec 1939 (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Dec. 20, 1939: “Let’s Help Finland” event is held at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Capt. Hans Langsdorff, captain of scuttled German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, commits suicide in Argentina.

Eight WASP pilots in front of a North American AT-6 Texan a month before the WASPs were disbanded, Waco Army Airfield, Texas, 27 Nov 1944 (US Army Air Force photo)

80 Years Ago—Dec. 20, 1944: US terminates WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) program—returning combat airmen will perform their ferrying services; 1,037 women served, with 38 fatalities.

Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe, is appointed a 5-star general of the army.

The post Today in World War II History—December 20, 1939 & 1944 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—December 19, 1939 & 1944

Paratroopers of the US 101st Airborne near Bastogne, December 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

85 Years Ago—Dec. 19, 1939: Inside US territorial waters off Florida, British light cruiser Orion fires at German freighter Arauca, violating Pan-American Neutrality Zone; Arauca puts in to port at Port Everglades, FL.

80 Years Ago—Dec. 19, 1944: In the Battle of the Bulge, US 101st Airborne Division arrives in Bastogne, Belgium, to protect the crucial crossroads.

Germans capture two regiments (7,000 men) of US 106th Infantry Division on Schnee Eifel, including writer Kurt Vonnegut, the largest US mass surrender of the war except at Bataan.

The post Today in World War II History—December 19, 1939 & 1944 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—December 18, 1939 & 1944

Chinese troops at Kunlunguan Pass, Guangxi Province, 18 Dec 1939 (public domain via WW2 Database)

85 Years Ago—Dec. 18, 1939: Battle of Helgoland Bight—German Luftwaffe fighters shoot down 10 of 22 RAF Wellington bombers, and two more Wellingtons ditch at sea.

Chinese troops defeat Japanese at Longhua in Hubei Province and at Kunlunguan Pass in Guangxi Province, China.

Light carrier USS Cowpens rolling in heavy seas in Typhoon Cobra, 18 Dec 1944 (US Navy photo)

80 Years Ago—Dec. 18, 1944: In its first mass incendiary raid, US Twentieth Bomber Command B-29s destroy Japanese-held Hankow, China.

In Typhoon Cobra off Samar in the Philippines, US Third Fleet loses destroyers Hull (202 killed), Monaghan (257 killed), and Spence (315 killed)—only 91 survive on all three ships.

The post Today in World War II History—December 18, 1939 & 1944 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—December 17, 1939 & 1944

Admiral Graf Spee burning after being scuttled in the River Plate Estuary at Montevideo, Uruguay 17 Dec 1939 (Imperial War Museum: IWM A 3)

85 Years Ago—Dec. 17, 1939: Damaged German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled in Montevideo, Uruguay, as British ships wait offshore; the Graf Spee had sunk nine ships with no lives lost in those sinkings.

First Canadian troop convoy, TC-1, arrives in Britain, at the Clyde River.

Joachim Peiper’s SS troops on the road to Malmédy, Belgium, 17 Dec 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—Dec. 17, 1944: In Belgium, German Waffen-SS troops under Joachim Peiper massacre 84 US POWs at Malmédy, 11 African-American soldiers at Wereth, plus another 200 US POWs and 100 Belgian civilians at various locations.

US War Department revokes West Coast exclusion order against Japanese-Americans, effective Jan. 2, 1945.

Ernest King, US Chief of Naval Operations, is promoted to fleet admiral.

The post Today in World War II History—December 17, 1939 & 1944 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—December 16, 1939 & 1944

German troops passing abandoned American equipment during the Battle of the Bulge (US Army Center of Military History)

Finnish soldier with a Molotov Cocktail during the Winter War (Public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Dec. 16, 1939: Finnish ski troops fight Soviets with first use of homemade “Molotov Cocktails.”

80 Years Ago—Dec. 16, 1944: Battle of the Bulge begins—three German armies launch the Ardennes Offensive in Belgium and Luxembourg, advancing rapidly.

Betsie ten Boom, sister of Corrie ten Boom (author of The Hiding Place) dies at Ravensbrück concentration camp, age 59.

German V-2 rocket hits Rex Cinema in Antwerp, Belgium, killing 567, including 296 Allied servicemen, the largest death toll ever from a V-weapon.

George Marshall, US Army Chief of Staff, is promoted to 5-star general of the army.

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Today in World War II History—December 15, 1939 & 1944

MGM theatrical release poster for Gone with the Wind, 1939 (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Dec. 15, 1939: Movie premiere of Gone with the Wind, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, in Atlanta, GA; the Black actors are not allowed into the segregated theater.

Maj. Glenn Miller, US Army Air Forces (USAF photo)

80 Years Ago—Dec. 15, 1944: A UC-64 aircraft carrying bandleader Maj. Glenn Miller of the US Army Air Forces disappears over the English Channel in a presumed crash in bad weather.

US 24th Infantry Division lands on Mindoro in the Philippines and finds little Japanese opposition.

William Leahy, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, is promoted to fleet admiral.

Movie premiere of Hollywood Canteen, starring Joan Leslie, Robert Hutton, and a host of movie stars.

The post Today in World War II History—December 15, 1939 & 1944 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—December 14, 1939 & 1944

Finnish Foreign Minister Rudolf Holsti speaking at the League of Nations General Assembly, protesting the Soviet invasion, Geneva, Switzerland, 11 Dec 1939 (public domain via Wikipedia)

85 Years Ago—Dec. 14, 1939: The League of Nations expels the USSR in response to the Soviet invasion of Finland.

MGM theatrical poster for the 1944 film National Velvet (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Dec. 14, 1944: US Navy Task Force 38 carrier aircraft attack airfields on Luzon in the Philippines, destroying 170 Japanese aircraft.

US authorizes ranks of fleet admiral and general of the army as new 5-star ranks.

Movie premiere of National Velvet, starring Mickey Rooney and twelve-year-old Elizabeth Taylor.

The post Today in World War II History—December 14, 1939 & 1944 first appeared on Sarah Sundin.

Today in World War II History—December 13, 1939 & 1944

Admiral Graf Spee at anchor in Montevideo harbor, Uruguay for repairs, 13-16 Dec 1939 (US Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 59656)

85 Years Ago—Dec. 13, 1939: Battle of the River Plate—off the coast of Uruguay, German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee is damaged by British light cruisers Exeter and Ajax and New Zealand cruiser Achilles, the first major naval engagement of the war; Admiral Graf Spee will put in to Montevideo, Uruguay, the next day for repairs.

80 Years Ago—Dec. 13, 1944: US First Army exits the Hürtgen Forest and reaches the Roer River in Germany.

US XXI Bomber Command B-29s have their first truly successful bombing—of the Mitsubishi aircraft plant in Nagoya, Japan.

Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, the father of abstract art, dies in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, age 77.

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